


This is the Way I Need to Wake (I Wake to You)

by Ericine



Category: Holby City
Genre: (it's whatever you want it to be), 20x49 lighting, Bernie's Hair, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Hair, Sparkles, The Lion King - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 14:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16976439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ericine/pseuds/Ericine
Summary: "You'd never left me. All that I'd dreamt had been untrue. Open my eyes, I see sky."Dawn.





	This is the Way I Need to Wake (I Wake to You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Regency](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regency/gifts).



> Written for the Berena Advent 2018 challenge, and the prompt is "sparkles," which obviously I cannot resist.
> 
> Gather, my little hot cocoa mugs, and let me take you back to 2008, when I watched a completely different hospital show, listened to the stylized murmurings of one Ingrid Michaelson, and everything felt warm in winter and nothing hurt. I apply this aesthetic to our favorite ship and factor in (1) how every single damn shot of Bernie in 20x49 looked like it was purposefully taken in golden hour and (2) how maybe 20x50 ended very differently (YMMV, of course, but it's there if you want it.
> 
> (Title is from "Sky" by Joshua Radin feat. Ingrid Michaelson.)

Bernie was awake.

Sort of.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best choice of words. Bernie was _conscious_ \- of the bed (warm), of the sheet under the duvet (tangled), and of her shin (cold). But her eyes were nowhere near opening, and she'd be content to lie here in 99% comfort for a luxuriously inordinate amount of time, provided the world was not about to end and end loudly (or her mobile did not ring).

Still, first thing's first.

She slides her leg the couple centimeters she'll spare to achieve her goal, wiggles it a little to get the blanket to cover it just - _there_.

Warmth floods her body. Complete comfort. Did human beings ever feel such bliss as they do in this exact space - almost asleep, just conscious enough to register such deep relaxation?

The quietest of starts and an intake of breath pull her out of her thoughts, though.

She rolls over slowly. It's second nature to tuck her warming shin behind Serena's knee, and it's second nature for Serena to shift for optimal warmth, even as she's staring up at the ceiling, bewildered. "Hm, what's it?"

From the looks of it, Serena might not even know. Bernie watches her calculate for a bit, blink.

When Serena turns to look at Bernie, it's like she's surprised to see her at all. It was like that, sometimes, when they used to return to each other after being apart so long, but that was a long time ago.

And then Serena smiles, tilts her head back in something (happiness? relief?), and Bernie shifts her legs even closer (it's science, of course - everyone's warmer faster this way). "Bad dream. Sorry, did I wake you?"

Bernie wiggles her leg just a little and grins. "Bit cold." She reaches for Serena, who shifts into her arms. "Do you remember it?" Bernie asks, even as she's closing her eyes against the slight dawn light spreading into the room.

Serena chuckles. "Not important." And then her hands are in Bernie's hair.

"Mm, is it bad? I'll fix it later." That earns her another chuckle. Bernie's bedhead (when she catches herself a proper full, uninterrupted night of sleep) has no equal among her species, both of them have decided.

"Nothing incurable."

"That's in your professional opinion?"

"Oh, yes. Also, it looks fantastic in this lighting."

"Like a lion," murmurs Bernie. "Or, uh, what were the other animals in that movie? The grey ones - dog things."

"The hyenas?"

"Like a hyena." Some silence follows that. "Oh, go on, say it."

"Grey dog things."

"Yes?"

"Bernie, you lived in Kenya."

"Not a lot of time for safari-going, was there?" They share a laugh. "Besides, the hyenas in the movie were very--" She wiggles her head a little. "--me. The ones in real life are quite cute."

At this particular level of lethargy in this position, the closest thing Serena can kiss is Bernie's eyebrow, so she does. "Not like this."

And then they're asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> @Regency, thank you for getting me through this trying time, hahaha.


End file.
